Progress in our world will be progress towards more pain.

The Netroots Have A New Best Friend

She doesn’t seem to have a website yet but I imagine this woman will get hit with a truckload of cash as soon as she puts one up.

A former teacher and county commissioner will challenge Rep. Bart Stupak in the Aug. 3 Democratic primary in Michigan, the Detroit Free Press reported this afternoon.

Connie Saltonstall, a former commissioner in Charlevoix County, told me this evening she’s challenging Stupak over his refusal to allow health care reform to move forward without abortion language attached.

Saltonstall told me her “two passions” are health care reform and choice. And after spending the last 20 years voting for Stupak, Saltonstall said he managed to run afoul of both of them.

“I’ve had to vote for him because he’s a Democrat and not a Republican — he was not as bad as the other side,” she said. But Saltonstall said Stupak’s stance on abortion in the health care debate “crossed the line” for her.

“That has happened not only with me but with many Democrats in the district,” she said. Saltonstall told me her phone has been ringing off the hook with calls of support from inside the massive 31-county district.